MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Russia supplies medicines and food as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, and believes that such assistance should be given by all members of the international community, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Humanitarian assistance should be given right now. I can see that Western countries are starting to make relevant contributions. The question is how to divide this assistance. Many do not want to give it directly to the government and are working through international organizations. We believe they have a reason and are brokering agreements with the incumbent authorities in Kabul so that they allow international organizations, primarily humanitarian ones, to do such work," Lavrov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel.
"Naturally, we will also give some assistance. We are already supplying medicines and food. Central Asian countries are doing the same. Our primary objective is their stability, considering that we have no border with the Central Asian allies, and there is a visa-free system with nearly all of them," Lavrov said.
"In that context, President [Vladimir] Putin told [his U.S. counterpart Joe] Biden in Geneva in June that we strongly objected to attempts at reaching agreements with Central Asian countries on the deployment of certain elements of U.S. military infrastructure in their territory to deliver so-called over-the-horizon strikes on the Afghan territory if necessary," he said.
The Americans have made such requests to the Pakistanis, but the latter refused, Lavrov said.
"Uzbekistan has publicly said that its constitution does not envisage such actions and the deployment of military bases in its territory. Kyrgyzstan also said publicly, through its president, that it does not want that to happen," he said.
"Being aware of the insistence of the Americans, I do not rule out they will continue to approach the issue from various angles. I have heard that they are allegedly trying to convince India to provide certain opportunities to the Pentagon in the Indian territory," Lavrov said.
"Another issue that is being considered much more seriously is refugees," he said.
"Many have fled to Central Asia on their own, they are being treated differently, as the countries are trying to protect themselves. Uzbekistan has assigned premises adjacent to airports from where the refugees are sent to other states, without being allowed into different parts of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Our Tajik neighbors are acting likewise. They are also experiencing pressure and receiving requests to take in refugees," he said.
"They are planning to open admission centers on the definitive guarantee that the refugees will be taken away as time passes. The West rushed to persuade the neighbors into taking in tens of thousands of refugees, allegedly for a limited period of time, until the West prepares documents for their immigration to Western nations," Lavrov said.
He welcomed the fact that "no one took that path, at least in the amounts suggested by the West."
"Clearly, some people have moved in, and their fates have yet to be determined. The West said it needed two or three months to prepare documents for those people and noted that they had to be rescued because of cooperation with the coalition forces. Considering that you cooperated with the Afghans on the ground for a long period of time and employed them as interpreters and informants, you must have vetted their background," Lavrov said.
"If you still do not know whether they deserve trust or not after they have worked for you, why dump them into the Central Asian countries, our allies," he said, adding that it's still an open question.
"As you know, we have proposed that the UN hold a conference on urgent humanitarian needs of the Afghan population. I think the message has been received, and we are waiting for a more specific response," Lavrov said.